Shivering:The Roots of Madness

Cleanse the Pools of Madness. Quest Giver: Haskill at Sheogorath's Palace Location(s): Sheogorath's Palace, The Fountainhead Prerequisite Quest: Symbols of Office Next Quest: The End of Order Reward: Nerveshatter or Diadem of Euphoria and a completed Staff of Sheogorath. ID: SE12

The Ordered fountain

Quick Walkthrough

1. Attempt to immerse the Staff in the Font of Madness.
2. Speak with Haskill concerning the condition of the Font.
3. Enter the Fountainhead and cleanse the Pools of Madness.

Detailed Walkthrough

Imbue the Staff

Travel to Sheogorath's Palace and follow the instruction of Dyus by attempting to imbue the Staff of Sheogorath through activating the Font of Madness. At this point in time, nothing will happen. Speak with Haskill, who will inform you that Font has been tainted by Order crystals. You must enter the Fountainhead and cleanse the Pools of Madness.

Purify the Fountainhead

Enter the Fountainhead, located within the tree behind Sheogorath's throne. You will immediately notice that it is populated by both tamed and untamed gnarls. The few tamed Gnarls are not hostile, and will unlock the Order-sealed doors throughout the Fountainhead. All other Gnarls are hostile and possess a white aura.

Progress further into the Fountainhead and you will encounter one of numerous chrysalides scattered around the cave; activating them will spawn a tamed Gnarl. As you delve deeper still, you will encounter priests of Order who are in the process of tainting the smaller pools. Kill the priests and loot the shards of order found on their corpses - these will allow you to open doors and hollowed stumps that have been sealed by order crystals. Fight your way through until you reach the Pools of Madness.

Cleanse the Pools of Madness

The Pool of Mania

The quest will differ at this point, depending on which Duke or Duchess you usurped during the Ritual of Accession quest. You will find either Thadon or Syl, attired in the uniform of a priest of Order and escorted by several other priests, in their respective pools; while the other will only be guarded by a few priests. Kill all the enemies, thus cleansing the pools.

To complete the quest you must return to Sheogorath's Palace and activate the Font of Madness. This will also start the next quest, during which you are unable to leave the palace courtyard, so you may want to delay activating the Font until after you are ready.

Notes

• Syl wields the leveled warhammer, Nerveshatter and knows how to use it, posing a challenge for even higher-level players.
• Thadon wears the unique helm, the Diadem of Euphoria, which confers a leveled Resist Magic effect upon its wearer.
• Pools of Madness that have been cleansed will grant you a 10 point restore health effect.
• If you attack the tame Gnarls they will run after you, thus opening the doors faster. Another strategy is to use Command Creature.
• Upon successfully completing the quest, a trophy of a Shard of Order will appear on a platform in Sheogorath's Palace.
• If you have killed the tamed gnarls, you can manually grab one of their bodies and move it close to an ordered door to open it.
• Tamed gnarls will be converted to untamed gnarls if they reach the Order crystals in contaminated pools.
• The reverse also applies to untamed gnarls, but require a bit of time and require the player to not be detected.

Journal Entries

The Roots of Madness (SE12)
Stage	Finishes Quest	Journal Entry
0
5		(Initialize ordered doors)
7		(Set if player tries Font before talking to Haskill)
9
10		Something is wrong with the Font of Madness. It won't accept the Staff of Sheogorath and imbue it with power as Dyus described. Perhaps Haskill will know what's wrong with it.
20		The Font of Madness has been poisoned by Order! If it becomes fully Ordered, the realm is lost and Jyggalag has won. Haskill suspects that Order has somehow gained access to the Pools of Madness that nourish the Font. I need to enter the Fountainhead beneath the Tree and find the source of the poison before it is too late.
30		I've witnessed a gnarl removing the Order crystals that were poisoning a door here in the Fountainhead. It seems that the tame gnarls here can halt the spread of Order throughout the dungeon. I may be able to use their help as I work my way to the Pools of Mania and Dementia.
40		(Set first time gnarl "orders" a door)
50		Just as Haskill suspected, Jyggalag's priests are poisoning the roots of the Tree of Madness. I have cleansed one of the minor pools, but I must find the Pools of Mania and Dementia in order to save the Tree.
60		I've discovered a chrysalis that generates a tame Gnarl Cultivator. Perhaps these gnarls can help me halt the spread of Order throughout the Fountainhead.
150		I've killed the Priests of Order who had cursed the Pool of Mania. Now to cleanse the Pool of Dementia. (If the player hasn't yet cleansed the pool of Dementia) or I've killed the Priests of Order who had cursed the Pool of Mania. The traitor, Thadon, was among them. Now that I've cleansed both Pools that feed the Font of Madness, I should be able to imbue the Staff of Sheogorath with power. (If the pool of Dementia has been cleansed already and the player is ruler of Dementia) or I've killed the Priests of Order who had cursed the Pool of Mania. The traitor, Syl, was among them. Now that I've cleansed both Pools that feed the Font of Madness, I should be able to imbue the Staff of Sheogorath with power. (If the pool of Dementia has been cleansed already and the player is ruler of Mania)
160		I've killed the Priests of Order who had cursed the Pool of Dementia. Now to cleanse the Pool of Mania. (If the player hasn't yet cleansed the pool of Mania) or I've killed the Priests of Order who had cursed the Pool of Dementia. The traitor, Thadon, was among them. Now that I've cleansed both Pools that feed the Font of Madness, I should be able to imbue the Staff of Sheogorath with power. (If the pool of Mania has been cleansed already and the player is ruler of Dementia) or I've killed the Priests of Order who had cursed the Pool of Dementia. The traitor, Syl, was among them. Now that I've cleansed both Pools that feed the Font of Madness, I should be able to imbue the Staff of Sheogorath with power. (If the pool of Mania has been cleansed already and the player is ruler of Mania)
180		(Player has cleared both pools)
200	Finishes quest	I have immersed my Staff in the Font of Madness. I have gained the power of Sheogorath.

Notes

• Not all Journal Entries may appear in your journal; which entries appear and which entries do not depends on the manner in which the quest is done.
• Stages are not always in order of progress. This is usually the case with quests that have multiple possible outcomes or quests where certain tasks may be done in random order.
• If an entry is marked as "Finishes Quest" it means the quest disappears from the Active Quest list, but you may still receive new entries for that quest.
• It is possible to use the console to advance through the quest by entering setstage SE12 stage, where stage is the number of the stage you wish to complete. It is not possible to un-complete (i.e. go back) quest stages. See SetStage for more information.

Prev: Symbols of Office

Up: Main Quest

Next: The End of Order